Locals have slammed the billionaire Issa brothers over their new mansions dubbed the "five ugly sisters".
Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who bought Asda in a £6.8billion deal last year, were met with fury after lodging plans to knock down eight houses in Blackburn and replace them with five luxury properties in 2018.
The row flared up again at a planning committee on Thursday after the family sought permission for changes made to the conditions imposed on the development four years ago, reports Lancashire Live.
A new application by Mohsin's son Sauban stated that, as construction works progress, a "number of working amendments" have been made to the approved scheme.
These changes were in relation to increasing the size of the identical homes, amending tree protection measures, revising the landscaping scheme and relocating driveways.
Residents expressed their concerns over the family's attitude towards planning rules, with one councillor branding it an "absolute joke" and a "shambles".
Ian Whalley wrote in an objection: “As I understand it, this is an application made by the developer to ‘ratify’ breaches of the existing plan.
"They shouldn’t have built them any bigger. They should not have removed any more trees.
“The whole thing has been a pantomime. What we are left with is not two but five ugly sisters.
"Because I have been against this grandiose plan for the start, I would object to all the variations requested.”
Liz Beaumont said: “I feel each and everyone of us deserve consideration of our lives and chosen lifestyles, not just the rich and powerful within the borough, who seem to take a feudal view of the running of our town.
"I am filled with horror as I look out of my window to the trees in the Billinge End site and know their likely fate.”
And the councillor for Livesey with Pleasington, Derek Hardman, told the committee meeting: “Why is this not a full retrospective planning application? We have had enforcement officers on the site regularly.
“The family’s attitude to planning rules is an absolute joke and a shambles because they keep ignoring them. Residents are fed up to the back teeth. I am sorry it’s a joke.”
Borough planning manager Gavin Prescott said: “The amendments represent modest changes to the previously approved development.
"The proposal will continue to deliver a high quality housing scheme consistent with the council’s planning strategy for growth and widening the choice of accommodation within the borough."
Following the changes being approved by six Labour votes to three Conservative ones, committee chairman Cllr Dave Smith said: “They are actually trees now. Some of them are beautiful. We are going to end up with five very impressive buildings.”
The Issa brothers are from Blackburn, but their parents Vali and Zubeda initially lived in Bradford after moving to the UK from Gujarat in India during the 1970s to work in the textile industry.
Mohsin and Zuber started out in a garage which their dad, who had worked in a woollen mill, bought.
They branched out on their own, first renting a petrol station for two years, then in 2001 buying their first forecourt, a derelict freehold site in Bury, and formed Euro Garages.
Their empire, the EG Group, now employs roughly 44,000 people.
In 2017, it bought 77 Little Chef roadside restaurants.
